SS 2013
by Mima and Nin
Summary: An anthology of stories based on prompts for SS month of 2013. [Chapter 5: Flood]
1. Holding Hands

**Holding Hands**

A brief assessment of the situation confirmed Sakura of her impending doom.

She hung precariously over an abyss of rock, sand and cold winds, and no matter how hard she squinted her eyes couldn't see how far down it was. Her sleeve tore from tension and Sakura is reminded of her hold of her teammate above her. He had her by the elbow, Sakura gripping his, while his other hand fought for purchase on an old oak root protruding from the side of the crevasse.

"Sakura," her teammate called. "Look."

Sakura turned her head slightly, following where her teammate indicated. A small groove of stone was just to their right, deep and wide enough for two hands.

"I'll hoist you up."

Before Sakura could protest, she felt herself being lifted cautiously towards the groove. Sakura saw the old root quiver and she stiffened.

"Sasuke-kun, wait—!"

The root shivered and their movements tore part of it from the rock above it, slamming the two shinobi roughly against the side. Their grip on each other faltered and slipped.

"Shit!"

Sakura barely heard Sasuke's curse as adrenaline shot right up her arm. She managed to take hold of Sasuke's hand tightly as debris and dust fell on both of them. Something hit Sakura's shoulder, and she saw Sasuke's short-range radio tumble into the darkness below her.

"Well," Sakura sighed, "there goes our last wireless."

"Doesn't matter," Sasuke told her. "Naruto should be back soon."

'Soon' seemed comforting enough, until both shinobi heard another creak. Sakura saw the root bend hard against the earth as it strained to support their weight.

No immediate help and not enough chakra. To die of unfortunate circumstance and not by the hands of an enemy seemed unfitting, Sakura thought, especially for Sasuke. She looked up at him and watched as he scowled in deep contemplation, thinking through possible options. How unfair that a shinobi such as Uchiha Sasuke would be killed by having his body crushed deep in the uncharted bowels of Earth Country.

_He hasn't even finished his probation yet,_ Sakura thought bitterly. The probation she, Naruto and Kakashi worked hard to bargain for from councils, Kages, and courtrooms, all to keep their prodigal teammate from death…yet here he was on the brink of it again, as if the gods deemed the last Uchiha unworthy of team seven's efforts.

_We saved him,_ Sakura told herself, wincing from the pain of maintaining her hold on Sasuke. _We saved him, and maybe that's enough._

The root gave way a little more, and Sasuke glared at it as though daring the earth to crumble. Sakura looked at the groove to her right. There was no way Sasuke could lift her up again without agitating the oak root. Another move and they would plunge to their death. If they did nothing, however, the root would tear anyway.

Sakura stared at the groove. It was too far from her reach, but not from Sasuke's. Sakura glanced up at him, then at their joined hands.

_I can save him,_ she decided. _I can save him again._

"Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke looked down at his teammate, his brow wrinkled in frustration. Sakura swallowed hard and met his gaze.

"We're too heavy," she said quietly.

"What?"

Sakura nodded to the groove then looked at Sasuke again. His eyes narrowed and his mouth pressed hard into a thin line.

"Don't be stupid," he said.

Why wasn't this so difficult? Sakura realized she must be afraid, that she should be…and yet, her mind never felt so clear.

"Sasuke-kun—"

"Shut up," Sasuke hissed. "Naruto is coming."

The root creaked again and gave partly. The two shinobi swayed violently as more earth threatened to loosen.

"You can reach it, can't you?" Sakura said hastily, eyeing the groove. "You can reach it, if you just—"

Sasuke's hold on her hand tightened. "No."

Sakura found it endearing to be at the receiving end of Sasuke's protective stubbornness. She feared if she didn't let go now, she might grow frightened and change her mind.

She opened her hand.

"Sakura!"

Sasuke hadn't let go, but his grip was slipping. His breath was audible and coming in short gasps. His sharingan flickered in panic.

Sakura looked up, past her teammate and into the full moon. Her hearing had gone awry from the blood pounding in her ears. Her eyes stung from the sweat on her temple. She didn't understand why she wasn't crying.

"You want to be Hokage," she told him. "I still think that's funny but I know you don't."

"Sakura…" was his voice shaking? Sakura couldn't tell. She couldn't see him properly anymore. She began wriggling her hand.

"Sakura, stop—!"

"I can save you," Sakura said to him firmly. "I can save you."

"That's not for you to decide!" Sasuke snapped. "Just shut up and—!"

Sakura reached for her remaining kunai with her free hand. She brought the blade to Sasuke's hand holding hers. Sasuke's eyes widened, his sharingan disappearing with the last dregs of his strength. Even in the scant evening light, the true color of horror reflected in the black of his eyes.

"S-Sakura—!"

Sakura cut the skin of his fingers and he let go.

"SAKURA!"

"SAKURA-CHAN!"

A new voice resonant and bright as its owner echoed down the crevasse as Sakura fell fast. Sakura's eyes watered and she shut them tight. Her hair whipped around her face, the wind screaming in her ears, the pull of gravity overwhelming her senses. She felt her body tip upside down, and her head throbbed from vertigo that shook her very being.

"SAKURA!"

Something took hold of her around her back. Sakura forced her eyes open and saw Sasuke's head of dark hair tucked into her neck. He gritted his teeth as the two of them fell faster, the darkness gaping and growing colder…

"Sasuke! Sakura-chan!"

Sakura peered over Sasuke's shoulder and saw a white blur against the black of the abyss. Her breath caught as Naruto's face came into view, with Sai in front of him maneuvering an enormous ink osprey. The creature veered closer and Sakura felt her and Sasuke's weight collide against its cold form. The osprey soared upwards against the face of rock and into the open sky, then bowed into a steady glide above the mountains.

"You guys!" Naruto called out, his whiskered cheeks pinching from a grin. "You're okay!"

"And you're late," Sasuke rumbled.

Sakura remembered she was no longer falling, that she was safe and still locked in Sasuke's embrace. He eased his hold and grasped her shoulders with his hands.

"You're an idiot," he muttered. "You will not do that again."

Sakura nodded stiffly. Sasuke embraced her again, burying his face into the crook of her neck. Naruto whooped and threw his arms over all his teammates, ignoring Sasuke's venomous protests and Sai's request to let go, please, can't you see he's steering. Sakura held all of her boys, told them to shut up, and cried.


	2. Lessons Learned

**Lessons Learned**

The mist is all gone but Sakura doesn't move. The concrete is cracked and slippery from ice, the temperature finally rising since a few minutes ago. Sakura can see now, but she forgets how important this is for her mission. Her breath comes out visibly—a single puff, small and soundless.

Naruto isn't looking at her. He is hardly ever ashamed or embarrassed, and Sakura being clever, somehow understood before she saw. The bridge and the sky merged in greys and whites of a landscape behind Naruto's shoulder, and a dark speck of a prone figure lay unmoving in the crumbs of a battle.

"I'll come with you," said the bridge-builder. "That way you won't be breaking your sensei's order."

Sakura marveled how sharp her senses have become yet she belatedly registered the client's offer. Her small hand found his, and not for the first time she truly felt like a child.

"Okay," she whispered.

The dark figure is like a hole in the sky that drains the world into nothing, sucking Sakura and Tazuna-san in, closer, closer…they passed Naruto who blends into oily blurs in the corner of Sakura's eye, his orange and yellow disappearing in her vision. Her sandals skidded and her ankle protested but Sakura felt none of it, only the tug towards the body flat and still and _dead_ in front of her.

The sight is unholy and vibrant. Sakura may be a kunoichi, but a death such as this is as novel to her as it is to Tazuna-san. They are transfixed at how disturbingly picturesque it is: a boy pin-cushioned by senbon needles. There is little blood but around those that crust the senbon on his neck, adorning him in a perfect ring of thorns. Sakura takes it all in, drinks and drowns in the sight of him and observes, _learns,_ because this is what Sakura is good at. Learning. The matrix of her mind simulates the photographic memories of pages from _Standard Shinobi Regulations and Codes_ on what to do with the bodies of elite shinobi.

Sasuke is hardly elite by reputation, because this is also his first high ranked mission, and Sakura doubts he has fought several other Zabuzas and Kakashis and conquered them all in his twelve years of existence. He fought as though nothing scared him, as if the world ebbed into his direction and he just went with it fluidly, and for Sakura that was elite enough.

Her hand flew without her permission to his face and she palmed his cheek absentmindedly. A Kakashi-echo resounded in the background of her thoughts: _Lesson two—genjutsu._

Sakura tamped down the urge to form the ram seal and whisper "kai"; she wasn't so foolish. Her mind produced procedural output on the situation: _Enemy shinobi must not take possession of the bodies of elite shinobi. They hold precious information that may be used against you and your allies..._

"He's cold," Sakura murmured. "This…isn't an illusion…"

Tazuna-san is unsure what to do, and doesn't step forward to hold the little girl's shoulders in comfort. He understands this is not his world, but he thinks it also shouldn't be Sakura's.

"Don't mind me," he said. "It's best to let it out and cry."

Sakura agreed. She always felt better doing so, and her mother would tell her the same thing. Cry it out my child, she would say, and let it burn away your grief. Sakura never forgets her lessons.

"I always scored a hundred percent on the ninja exams."

Tazuna-san is surprised but he listens, not knowing where this is coming from. His young little escort shook in her attempt to control something in her small chest. Her hand has not left her teammate, his face shadowed by Sakura's form.

"I memorized over a hundred shinobi sayings," Sakura continued. Her voice trembled and rose a pitch. "I always wrote the correct answers."

Her mind played like an old film, and the catalogued pages of a test and a book flitted at the forefront of her thoughts. The twist beneath Sakura's ribcage wound tighter and she fought with all she had not to collapse.

"There was this question that appeared, one day," Sakura let go of Sasuke, feeling a little sick. "'_Write down shinobi saying #25.' _I wrote down the answer as usual…"

Sakura opened her mouth, and her lungs swelled. She didn't want to absorb any of this, it hurt too much…but she took it all in, unwillingly, for learning is her life and her soul, and now she is learning through experience. Her chest expanded and white-hot pain crawled up her throat, her eyes and her face.

"No matter what the situation, a shinobi must keep emotions on the inside…"

But Sakura knew she never would. She cannot keep it in because it always burned bright and big so wonderfully and devastatingly, and her body must learn this, must never forget.

"You must make the mission your top priority, and you must possess a heart that never shows tears…"

An inferno mass exploded in Sakura, and with prideful sorrow she disregards her shinobi codes and mourned Uchiha Sasuke. She looked at him again and the loss hits her, opening her and filling her to the brim, branding her skin, her insides, her everything. To the skies she screamed and she doesn't care that she is wasting energy on emotion. Her chakra flared, flickered, steamed invisibly around her as this memory is seared into her, all that she can see, hear and touch.

Her sobs fizzled, leaving Sakura exhausted. She burrowed her face in Sasuke's shirt and surrendered herself to aftershock. She is crying still, and there are now just embers of the day left to dim into ashes. She doesn't care that her back is turned, that her neck is exposed to the cold, that Zabusa's blade may just be seconds away to her throat…

"Sakura…"

Sakura gasped. She saw nothing, but her ears picked up the unmistakable raspy voice. She waited, uncertain if her grief has made her mad and has weakened her state of mind.

"S-sakura…"

Sakura looked up. Her head turned sharply and her eyes focused on two dark ones, blinking into consciousness. Sasuke's lips parted and he craned his neck to speak again.

"You're heavy," he croaked.

In another circumstance Sakura may have felt annoyed at his words, but now she could hardly care less. Her chest is hammering again but now in euphoria, in life anew, and Sakura is embracing her teammate, never mind that a senbon needle was pushing into her own skin.

Sasuke squirmed in her grip. "Sakura, that hurts…"

Sakura agreed. It hurt like hell, to be shattered so brilliantly then be made whole again, to learn this shinobi life of theirs through loss, to be deceived of it and know that they will not always be so lucky.

Sakura helped her teammate up, explaining to Sasuke what he missed. She is elated, her child's heart mended again, but a dark, black hole has been scorched into it. Her body has become acquainted to the sensation of loss, regardless of it being false. Sakura doesn't feel like being reminded of this fact. She called Naruto over, shouting at him, pointing at Sasuke and basking in the joy of Naruto's sweet relieved smile. Sakura glanced at a senbon glinting on the back of Sasuke's neck. She remembers it forever.


	3. Watching

**Watching**

"He's confessing."

"He isn't."

"He is. A woman knows these things."

"Have you _met_ him?"

Kakashi turned a page and sighed. Now he's definitely seen everything. ANBU sentinels, gossiping like civilian washerwomen. Maybe he should have looked into the security roster this morning, though doing so would have wasted him precious reading time for _Icha Icha __Marquis[1]_. He hadn't expected to be stuck with fresh ANBU recruits, who from the looks of things were barely older than their charge. Regardless of how talented they were, maybe it was for the best that Kakashi volunteered to join their shift. He made a mental note to talk to Tsunade about this.

"You think so too, don't you sempai?" ANBU Cat said, turning her head to the veteran. "You think he's confessing. That's why you're here."

The woman wasn't awarded one of the highest honored animal masks for nothing—she was too clever for her own good. Kakashi peered at her and her companion over the top of his book.

"I'm just being a good sensei," he said vaguely, his lone visible eye squinting from a smile.

"He's an asshole," ANBU Hound muttered. "Why can't he just talk properly like everyone else?"

"Sasuke isn't like everyone else," Kakashi replied, flipping to another page.

"What's he doing, anyway?" Hound groused, folding his arms. "He's been on that bridge for an hour!"

Kakashi shifted on the branch he sat on and glanced at his former student, Uchiha Sasuke, leaning casually on Team Seven's red bridge outside of Konoha's main residential square. Since his arrival, Sasuke had remained still as though in deep meditation, though Kakashi knew better than to think the boy was calm at all. A quick survey of his posture and facial expression told the jounin his former student was anxious.

"I've never even seen him show interest a girl," Hound continued. He turned to Cat, "He's got the social skills of a rock."

"You're an idiot," Cat told him promptly. "You don't deserve sempai's mask if you can't even observe people properly."

"Oh, I've _observed_ him, alright. And he's got as much chance of finding a date as an angry porcupine."

"That's a lot more chance than _you _have."

"You little—!"

"Children," Kakashi scolded mockingly, sighing again. "If you'd please pay attention..."

He pointed towards the bridge. Something caught Sasuke's eye and he turned towards the main square's entrance. Hound made an incredulous noise as they watched Haruno Sakura wave at her former teammate and approach him in a light jog.

"You see?" Cat said. "He's confessing."

"He's not the type," Hound said, and even with the mask on Kakashi knew he was scowling. "Can't be."

"You're denying things. You have feelings for Haruno Sakura as well."

Hound sputtered. "What, no!" he looked at Kakashi sharply and raised his arms defensively. "Sempai…ah, it's—!"

"And I know," Cat continued, purring, "that she has turned you down."

Kakashi let the two ANBU bicker and focused on his two former students. He wondered whether he should use the sharingan to read their lips, but thought it might be intrusive of him. Then again, him volunteering to take part in Sasuke's security detail wasn't exactly without personal ulterior motive to confirm some gossip-worthy suspicions.

It was his guilt on failing his wayward student that initially drove Kakashi to be part of the boy's watch. Immediately after the war, Sasuke had been shackled with chakra seals and given a security detail of no less than eight ANBU. House arrest did him no good in terms of reassimilating into the village, and Kakashi made it a point to visit him, along with the rest of Team Seven. Things went relatively well, and Kakashi thought Sasuke was on his way to progress, until one ANBU guard had barged into the Hokage's office claiming the Uchiha attempted suicide.

A brief psychological evaluation revealed that Sasuke had dissociated, having no recollection of trying to slit his own throat. Immediately he was put on medication, and Kakashi watched with grim difficulty as he went through pills and theraphy that disagreed with his chakra system. Kakashi would never forget his screams from nightmares, and he had nearly abandoned his watch.

Then a few changes occurred, and Kakashi was intrigued.

It had been a Sunday morning when the medic assigned to drop off Sasuke's medication had another errand to run, and Sakura took his place. She came over the Uchiha's apartment in civilian clothes, having been pulled out of her day off with friends to be the medic's replacement. Kakashi watched Sasuke pull open his door and look unusually surprised, confused, and even _breath-taken,_ at the sight of his former teammate in a white dress that stopped just above her knees, her short hair in twin pigtails bobbing on her shoulders.

"Morning, Sasuke-kun," she greeted him. "Kabu-san had an emergency. He asked me to drop these off."

She handed Sasuke a brown paper bag, and there was a palpable awkward pause before he lifted his arm and took the package. He was still staring.

"I'll see you around," Sakura said, and she bid him farewell.

Since then, Kakashi (and perhaps ANBU Cat as well) noticed that in Sakura's presence, Sasuke had become less livid, less harrowed-looking. He would regard his female teammate with a subtle tenderness, still silent but no longer cold. The nightmares decreased, and soon Sasuke stopped dissociating. Sakura had congratulated him on finally ending the medication and brought him a basket of tomatoes as a gift. She dared not cross a line in their relationship, Kakashi observed, and was clearly trying to withhold her affections for the Uchiha. Kakashi then wondered if the boy would finally welcome it, even reciprocate it.

It was hypocritical of Kakashi to accuse his ANBU companions of gossip, since he had remained in Sasuke's watch for reasons that were arguably none of his business. Months of watching Sasuke struggle with his emotions towards Sakura had been far more entertaining than Kakashi expected, and didn't even mind that this particular development occasionally interrupted his reading. He would gladly reread a sentence five times if it meant updating himself on his own former students' love lives.

Hound was now precariously leaning over the edge of his perch, trying to get a good look at the couple. "What're they saying?" he asked. He turned to Kakashi. "Sempai?"

Kakashi shrugged. Sakura had been animatedly talking to Sasuke, and Kakashi could only guess she was telling him about her day. Sasuke would murmur answers and suppply short comments every now then. Sakura laughed at a particular one and Kakashi saw the corners of Sasuke's mouth twitch in a smile. The Uchiha began to say a few things, and when he turned his head to avoid Sakura's gaze, he suddenly frowned.

Cat and Hound edged closer. Kakashi's hand stopped midway into turning a page. Sakura inclined her head, her brow creased in worry. She was saying something timidly, moving closer to Sasuke's side.

"Look, now," Cat said. "He'll confess."

"Five hundred ryou[2] says he'll screw it up," Hound muttered.

Sasuke had gone rigid. With some effort he turned back to look at Sakura again, and his hands shot up to hold her by the shoulders. Kakashi flipped a page, forgetting he had not read the previous one. Hound was no longer crouching. He gripped the end of a branch for support as he stood, stretching his neck towards the couple. Kakashi felt his junior's chakra spike minutely.

Sasuke was talking more than he usually did. Sakura listened patiently with some confusion, never breaking eye contact. A strange expression was on Sasuke's face. Uncertainty? Regret? His hands fell to grasp Sakura's. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips on hers.

Hound slipped. "Oh, fuck—!"

Kakashi doesn't remember closing his book. He watched in a state of stuppor, realizing he should have been expecting this, yet was no less surprised. It felt like a story somehow, a build up to a teetering climax where characters were now to choose which path they must take. He glanced at Cat to his side who seem to have remained unaffected. It was hard to tell with the mask.

The couple broke apart, and Kakashi has never seen Sakura so red. She gently pushed Sasuke a few inches away and was now hiding her face behind her hands, shaking her head, peering up at him, shaking her head again…

"She's upset," Hound said bitterly.

"She's overwhelmed," Cat replied.

Sasuke whispered something to Sakura and she nodded fervently. She waved a hand at him, the other covering her mouth, and she averted her eyes, trying to look more interested in staring at a nearby utility post. Kakashi had put his book away and prepared himself for the denoument.

_What will you do, Sakura?_ He thought fondly.

Sakura showed no signs of removing her hand on her mouth anytime soon, so Sasuke obliged to do so for her. He seemed to be asking her a question, taking her hands again in his, his expression furrowed with concern and anxiety. Sakura babbled. Sasuke rolled his eyes, said a few choice words, and kissed her again. They embraced, and Sakura laughed and cried at the same time.

Cat looked at Hound pointedly. "I believe you owe me five hundred ryou."

.

.

.

.

.

.

* * *

1. The Marquis of Sade (Donatien Alphonse François, Marquis de Sade) was a classic French erotic writer and philosopher known for being extreme in his liberalities. When 50 Shades of Gray was released in France, many French critics scorned it, saying that the series showed the huge difference in literature depth between EL James' work and that of the Marquis, as well as Anais Nin's The Story of O.

2. Ryou here is based on an exchange rate of 1 dollar = 100 yen = 10 ryou; that is, 10 yen make a ryou and 10 ryou make a dollar.


	4. Misspent Youth

**A/N: **My thanks to **Marquise de Nile** for the correction on Chapter 3's footnote.

**Misspent Youth**

When Karin stepped into Konoha's main garrison, Sasuke knew something was wrong.

The redhead was flanked by two Leaf shinobi on either side, but there were no restraints on her. She slouched lightly, her shoulders hunched as if wary of everything she could see, hear and touch. The distrustful glances she shot at every Leaf shinobi were understandable, yet there was a slight frightened look to her just barely visible underneath her defensive mask. In their brief and rather vague acquaintance, Sasuke learned Karin wasn't one to succumb to any authority so easily, that even in shackles she would hold her head up high with whatever dignity she could muster. He wondered if she was tortured for interrogation immediately after the war, and if that had broken her.

A flash of pink caught his eye and he turned to its source. Sakura waved to Karin's Leaf shinobi escorts and approached them amiably. She made small talk with the escorts, giggling every now and then at their comments. A weight in Sasuke's chest seemed to lift when he heard her laugh, and with mad desperation he prayed she would do it again. The last time he heard her laugh truly and whole-heartedly seemed like thousands of years ago, when they were children weaving bonds and making promises to the stars.

Sakura was now talking to Karin, and with a sly grin she looked towards Sasuke's direction and pointed at him. Sasuke stiffened. He turned away and scowled, and he could feel both their stares on him. To his horror, Sakura left with the escorts and Karin was coming his way.

Sasuke glared viciously at Sakura's back, having no other scapegoat for feeling abandoned and left at Karin's mercy. Didn't her escorts know it was unsafe to let a prisoner wandering about unattended? Sasuke hoped there were at least a few ANBU guards keeping close watch on Karin as they were with him. He turned his head in indifference to Karin's presence, but when she said nothing, he recalled his suspicions about her behaviour. Karin sidled closer to him and Sasuke prepared for the violation of his personal space—instead, Karin crossed her arms and avoided his eyes.

"So," she huffed, looking around. "These are Konoha's finest."

Karin shifted her weight from one leg to another, her head cocked to one side in an air of nonchalance. She surveyed the knots of shinobi outside the tents surrounding a stronghold made from earth techniques. The rest of the Rookie Nine were starting to gather around Sakura and Karin's escorts, and their chatter grew louder and more boisterous. Sasuke didn't miss the way Karin sniffed at them bitterly. There was something in her expression he couldn't read, something annoyingly elusive enough to bother him and make him wonder what it was.

Karin pushed at her glasses. "Everyone's so _polite_."

She looked at Yamanaka Ino who was giggling along with Sakura. "These people are so nice, and friendly, and _way too polite_. Like they're not shinobi at all."

"Karin—"

"And it's like everyone knows _everybody._ You couldn't keep a damn secret with these people, and they can't just keep their hands to themselves. Somebody's problem becomes everybody's problem."

Sasuke growled. "Karin, don't—"

"And no one's ever alone," Karin raised her voice. "You Leaf people…you _always _have somebody with you, always have someone to protect and trust and look up to..."

She turned to Sasuke sharply. "And you left it all."

Sasuke blinked. He had expected that from other people, but not from her. He tried to read her emotions but she turned away again. She stared pointedly at someone and Sasuke followed her line of sight. He found himself looking at Sakura, red from embarrassment at something Ino said.

"She's so pretty," Karin whispered, defeat lacing her voice.

If he had been any more exhausted that day, Sasuke feared he might have voiced his agreement out loud without thinking. He thanked the gods he hadn't.

"She's pretty and you're an idiot."

Sasuke felt his last thread of patience snap. "Just say what you need to say, Karin."

"Psh, I'm not surprised you don't get it," Karin scoffed, turning on him fully with her nose up. "It must be so _horrible _to have a village to call home that you'd leave it all, that you'd leave _her_, for a madman like Orochimaru."

"You already know why I went," Sasuke reasoned, keeping his eye on Sakura.

"Yes, I know about your vengeance bullshit," Karin snapped loudly, making a nearby shinobi recoil at her. "Seeking power and all that crap."

She grew quiet, and Sasuke saw what it was that bothered her. Karin wasn't used to being around such generous people as the Leaf shinobi after being with Orochimaru for so long. To be around the Leaf, known for being as powerful as they were benevolent, was refreshing for Karin, who was used to the grit of amoralities and the company of shady nin in order to survive. She watched Sakura once more and her red eyes seemed to glaze with a novel kind of jealousy. There was no resentment, but outright confusion and wonder. She watched the rookie nine errupt in a gale of laughter, and it made her brows meet and her lips purse.

"How…" she began, her fists clenching. "How'd you do it?"

"What?"

"Leave. Leave all of _this_. How could you leave…everything?"

Sasuke didn't know if he should be honest, since so far that only upset her further. He chose to remain silent.

"This place is weird," said Karin. "The people are weird. It's everything and nothing like I know, and you had it all. All of it. And…and you had _her_, and you were _loved._"

Her sadness was thick and palpable. She had brought down her walls, and she didn't seem to care that she was exposing that brittle part of herself that Sasuke always knew existed. Karin sniffed again, and without her pretentious prim grace she reached behind her glasses and rubbed her watering eyes angrily.

"You're really stupid," she told Sasuke. "Stupid for leaving your stupid pretty girl and your stupid polite village for your stupid selfish goals."

"It was for my family," Sasuke said, but even now he didn't know if he believed it himself. After everything he had learned and gone through, he wondered if leaving Konoha had truly honored his parents, regardless of their intentions to overthrow the Hokage. He had hated Itachi so terribly, so powerfully, that the surreal experience of being in the snake Sanin's lair didn't sink in until after the first few days. He had been so close to changing his mind, and Sasuke wondered where he would be if he did.

His eyes found Sakura again and felt the weight of his choices on his shoulders. He had been gone for three years but it felt like he had missed an eternity. Meeting Sakura again after so long, he suddenly found himself thinking about what she'd done while he was away, where she'd been, and if she'd moved on. He feels left behind not in strength but in some kind of promise, like there were many things overdue of him to Sakura and Naruto.

He should have been there with her, Sasuke thinks. He shouldn't be standing beside Karin, alienated and lost, but rather with comrades, friends, and the girl who loved him and grieved his madness. He had a home and he took it for granted. Sasuke glanced at Karin and felt cold hard guilt sink into his stomach. Karin's own village was anihilated completely, leaving her nowhere else to go. Sasuke sought Orochimaru on his own, neglecting the very things that had been taken away from Karin when she was a child.

Karin made one final effort to wipe her tears, then crossed her arms, straightened her back and stepped forward to leave. She stopped to look over her shoulder, and Sasuke never thought he would ever be at the receieving end of her glare.

"I like her," Karin said in cold warning. "So you better start being nice to her."

She approched her escorts in an attempt to find some solace in her security detail, only to be suddenly pulled by the arm by Sakura and introduced to Ino and Tenten. Karin jerked in surprise, and her fiery protests were drowned in the noise of greetings, comments and questions. Sakura peered over the crowd and made eye contact with Sasuke. She smiled at him gently and made gestures to him to come forward. Sasuke shook his head, raising a hand to tell her it was fine. Sakura rolled her eyes at him and giggled. She broke away from the crowd and started heading for his direction.

Instincts told Sasuke to step away and escape, but he froze when Sakura took him by the arm and started pulling at him with both hands. He tried to fight the heat creeping up his neck and his face.

"Come on," Sakura said, smiling at him brightly. "You shouldn't be alone."

It took an incredulous amount of self-control and will-power for Sasuke to follow her. He avoided looking at Karin's direction as Sakura pushed him towards the others, though she clearly understood that staying beside her and keeping quiet was the best socialization he could do. She let go of him, but their hands brushed in silent acknowledgement of each other.


	5. Flood

**Flood**

There is hell in his throat that burns down to his gut_. _He didn't know what he swallowed that thrashed in his belly, making him want to retch. All of it is familiar and all of it didn't matter. He pretended he came from battle. It wasn't too far a comparison, really, only his enemy had been the universe and the war a twisted game of senseless chaos in the form of a natural disaster.

Sasuke shouldered past an old man without apology. His legs shook from strain but he kept on walking. If he didn't, he might be too late. The smell no longer bothered him because he smelled like it too: blood, sweat, mud, water—too much water. The stink of rot clung to him, enveloped him in putrid warmth. All of it didn't matter.

He grabbed a passing medic by the shoulder. Sasuke turned the man around sharply to look into his bloodshot eyes. The man sputtered as Sasuke brandished a standard shinobi identification card at him.

"Have you seen this woman?" he demanded.

The intern swallowed and shook his head. "N-no," he said weakly. "I'm sorry."

Sasuke shoved him away and kept moving, his neck sore from turning his head this way and that. The red of his sharingan flickered but never turned off completely. He was tired, but he is too panicked to care. He didn't know if, in this round of perilous dice with the gods, he had lost again. He had lost too many times before.

Already he is used to the screaming and the crying, but his exhaustion made it seem louder in the rooms and the hallways, the endless noise of loss and suffering. He felt the cold sting of his dread worsen. Sasuke reminded himself to keep a clear mind, thinking the palpable fear in his stomach was only some form of inflammation from all that dirty water he ingested, something he would survive. Only his loss would kill him.

"Sasuke!"

A nearby mother and child flinched from nearly colliding with Sasuke as he swiftly turned around. He craned his neck over the sea of people crowding the area and saw a head of blond, a face of grime and whiskers coming in his line of sight.

"Sasuke!" Naruto called hoarsely. He bounded forward as much as the crowd let him, and soon he was catching his breath in front of his friend, limbs caked in blood, sand, and earth. He smelled like seawater.

"Anything?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto shook his head. "Nothing," he answered. "The building's packed but she isn't there."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. "You could have missed her. Go check again!"

"I've gone over it five times!" Naruto snapped back. "You _know_ I'd never miss her. She's got pink hair!"

"Then we go back to the coastline," Sasuke decided firmly, walking past his teammate. "We're done here."

Naruto caught him by the arm. "Sasuke—"

"If we go back—"

"We cleared that place already! Even local patrol's done with it. There's no one—"

"_You don't know that!_"

His throat seared from his shouting. He had disturbed other survivors around him, drawing attention to himself, but he didn't care. Sasuke felt lost, not knowing anything. He didn't know where to start, where to go, where to scream her name and pray and plead to the gods that he doesn't lose again.

He felt Naruto's hand on his shoulder. "We'll find Sakura-chan," he promised. "We'll find her."

For years Sasuke didn't much put faith in his friend, but he remembered Naruto swore to him he would live to fight again, that he would find his peace and find love he could protect. And he did.

Sasuke turned and continued his search with Naruto in tow. He stepped over a dilapidated chair that had washed up on the slick tiles of the hospital's courtyard. A strong wind brushed their cheeks, making the triage tents around them flutter and the tall palm trees—those left standing—sway lazily and creak. In his fleeting rage, Sasuke turned towards the coastline's horizon and glared at the sea. The thin gray line of water looked deceptively calm, as if it hadn't just devoured the land and ravaged it, leaving bodies and debris in its wake.

"Excuse me?"

A young female medic had approached them, a clipboard in her hands. She regarded the two ninja with the small dark eyes of a Sea Country native.

"You are Leaf shinobi," she said in a heavy accent. "Please, come."

"Not now," Sasuke answered curtly, but the medic took hold of his sleeve.

"You are looking for comrade?" the medic asked, tilting her head.

The boys exchanged looks. Sasuke showed the medic Sakura's ID. "Have you seen this woman?" he asked for the hundredth time that day.

The medic frowned at the ID and shook her head. "No," she said. "But you must come. Important for shinobi."

"You—"

"Sasuke," Naruto warned. He looked tired, and the ever-present mirth in his eyes had dimmed. The medic looked at both of them and spoke again.

"You must come. Important," she repeated. "For missing people. Dead people."

Sasuke froze. He stared at the medic, for how long he didn't know. His leg hurt, his chest and his stomach hurt, but this was no sickness. He wanted to swallow but his mouth had gone dry.

"Come," said the medic, and she turned on her heel. Sasuke moved, keeping his eye on her back and barely aware of Naruto at his side. He sidestepped people and things, clawing his way through the crowd to keep the medic in sight. He passed a board by the hallway covered in names without faces. The list grew everyday.

Distantly, Sasuke began to remember certain things. He remembered the feel of a mission scroll on his hand, the gates of Konoha at dawn, the dappling of sunlight through forest canopies. He remembered the awkward stiffness in his wrists, new to the sensation of being free from chakra restraints. He remembered a gray afternoon on a sandy shore, a moment peace, a beautiful smile that promised love. Sasuke had realized at that moment something important he needed to say, something he felt was long overdue. Then he remembered thundering noise, a monstrous wall of water, and the flash of pink disappearing into nothing.

The medic led them to a small makeshift ward with no patients or bodies in sight. Instead, several items littered across the floor, some of them propped up against the wall or laid on rusty gurneys. A man sat on the far end of the room with a table of objects glinting under the desk lamp. Sasuke saw one of them and practically ran.

"Thank you, Rei-chan," the man told the medic. He looked at Sasuke and Naruto. "Good afternoon. I'm Araragi Sato. You two are the first shinobi in this hospital, so I will need you to see if you recognize any of these items."

Among the kunai and shuriken, Sasuke's hand found the end of a Konoha forehead protector to his right. The red cloth was damp and dark from mud, the edges torn as though it had snagged on something sharp. He traced the leaf symbol on the metal before turning it over to check the serial code specific for every shinobi.

Sasuke never forgot his teammates' numbers.

"Do you recognize it?" asked Sato cautiously.

Naruto went still beside him. They stared at the numbers for what seemed like an eternity.

"You must know we have not yet found bodies indicating they are shinobi," Sato said. "We will keep trying—"

"Where did you find this?" Sasuke whispered.

"I'm sorry, I—"

Sasuke gripped Sato by the lapels and viciously lifted him off the desk. Naruto started shouting. Sasuke dug his nails deep into the man's collar, his sharingan burning the nerves at the back of his eyes. His head hurt and his insides roiled with something dark and toxic. He could still see her smile.

"_Tell me where you found this!_" Sasuke roared.

"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, but his voice trembled and he had gone pale. "Dammit, let him go!"

In those seconds, in the storm of his rage and anguish, Sasuke found himself consumed by memories pressing into the folds of his mind and his heart. He let himself be eaten raw by this suffering so very like hallucinations, making him high and fueling his anger with visions of pink and green and fleeting sensations of tender kindness he may never feel again. He still didn't know where she was or if he had truly lost her. There was no body, but there was also nothing else.

Naruto tried again. "Sas—!"

"_Shut up!_"

"H-hey! Excuse me!"

A new voice echoed from the doorway, and Sasuke instinctively jerked his head to one side. He peered over his shoulder and saw the medic from earlier. He was panting, his hand above one knee, his eyes meeting Sasuke's glare.

The medic straightened. "You're looking for that girl, right?" he said. "Pink hair?"

Sasuke dropped Sato on his seat. Both Leaf shinobi turned to face the medic. There was something in his eyes that ceased the tightening in Sasuke's chest. He became hyperaware of the light in the room and the dark shadows it cast, and he grew numb as he held his breath. He gripped Sakura's forehead protector with so much force, letting the metal bite into his skin.

"Please come with me," said the medic, and he exited the room.

Sasuke moved. His pace was faster, wider, his legs burning acid down his veins. He could hear Naruto huffing right beside him as they wound their way around the hospital again. The crowd was endless, the crying inconsolable. Infinite images flitted through Sasuke's mind and he feared what he would see. He glanced around him and saw hacking of blood, tubes protruding from flesh, amputations, infections, death. A woman clawed at two body bags and screamed as medics restrained her arms. Sasuke looked away.

They reached an isolated section of the hospital farthest from the ER and main road. Sheets of tarpaulin set up with wooden posts served as borders for a huge makeshift ward. The beds and curtains in broken rows created a maze for the medics and visitors moving here and there. There was an odd stillness in the ward, and Sasuke could hear his own heartbeat. His ribs ached from his labored breathing and his eyes stung. The medic turned his head to address him as he led them through the ward.

"I just came in here earlier," said the medic. "I saw her pink hair and remembered."

He nodded to a bed where the curtains were shut. Sasuke stopped, rooted to the spot. He could see a silhouette rippled against the cloth of the curtain. His ears picked up the sound of breathing that was neither his nor Naruto's.

Both boys edged closer. Naruto looked at him, giving him permission with his hopeful blue eyes. Sasuke raised a trembling hand and slowly drew the curtain back.

With only a blanket and a thin hospital gown covering her, Sakura seemed much smaller, almost like a child. Her hair was dry and stiff like straw from dirt, its usual coral pink sheen dulled to old rose. She had turned her head at the rustling of the curtains, and her wide green eyes were red from exposure. An IV line disappeared into her wrist and an oxygen mask was strapped to her nose and mouth. She gasped, fogging the mask with her breath.

"N-naruto," Sakura whimpered. "S-sas—"

Naruto shot forward and promptly sobbed and laughed as he crushed Sakura in a bear hug. "Sakura-chan!" he cried happily, ignoring a nearby nurse's vehement protests. "Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan! You're alive, Sakura-chan!"

In another time and place, perhaps nowhere else but Konoha, Sasuke would have made some scathing remark to Naruto telling him, _back the hell off, idiot, you're hurting her_. He still couldn't move, couldn't yet believe he found her, that she was safe and alive. His leg didn't stop throbbing and his entire digestive system was still on fire, but the invisible barbs coiled inside his chest were gone. He barely noticed his fingers dropping the forehead protector and Naruto pulling back from the hug. Sakura looked up at him, eyes rimmed with sickness. Then, from under her mask, she smiled.

Sasuke stooped down and took her in his arms.

He breathed in the salt in her hair and the antiseptics on her neck, absorbing the humidity of the tropics from the contours of her form. He shook terribly. He tightened his hold and didn't let go, would never let go because now in this roulette round of indiscriminate death, he had won. He got to keep her.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura said weakly. Her arms went around his neck, her hands fisting in his hair and running down his back. Naruto laughed behind him and sniffed, then weepily proclaimed, "I love you guys. Seriously."

There was something important Sasuke needed to say, but he was too overwhelmed. He gently lifted Sakura up and let her rest her head on him, and he knew it was now that he should say it. He should say it but he could only gasp for air and let Sakura's tears smear against his cheek; he realized he was crying, too. His tongue had gone heavy and his mind was lost in a haywire of maddening happiness. He pulled Sakura away to take off her oxygen mask and kissed her, hoping she understood.

.

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.

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* * *

**Notes**

Inspired by the film The Impossible (2012), which depicts the true story of the Bennet family surviving the Indian Ocean tsunami that hit Thailand in 2004. This piece is dedicated to the 200,000 victims who lost their lives and the loved ones they left behind.


End file.
